What You Have
by Dancho
Summary: Finished UPDATED! now with extra scenes KaibaTea! This is the sequel to 'Ryu' and occures roughly four years later. Things are going to start changing for everyone soon, but is that good or bad? Please heed the warnings!
1. I

AN: It's a sequel!

WARNING: THERE WILL BE LANGUAGE. THERE WILL BE VIOLENCE. THERE WILL BE DEATH. THERE WILL BE SEXUAL HUMOR AND/OR REFERENCES. THERE WILL BE YAOI (M/M PAIRING). THERE WILL BE SITUATIONS WHICH I MYSELF HOPE NO ONE EVER GETS INTO. AND THESE ARE JUST WHAT I'M PROMISING. You have been warned, so don't complain.

Chapter 1: You Don't Know What You Have Until You Lose It

Lifting his left arm over his head, Seto stretched and gradually opened his eyes. Blinking twice, Seto tried to figure out why his face was buried in a brown and black silk. Lifting his head up a little, his eyes focused on Tea's face and smiled. It had been four, almost five, years since they had meet and Seto was now a senior in college. Gently pulling his arm out from under Tea's sleeping form, Seto stretched again and suppressed a yawn while pulling on a pair of boxers and grabbing another set of clothes to throw on after his shower. Wandering down the stairs and through the undersized kitchen into his bathroom, Seto looked over his small apartment.

He'd purchased it when he'd first started college and his parents had even helped with the cost, because they understood that Seto needed his own space and freedom. Of course, they also thought he was living in a college dorm. Getting into the shower, Seto smiled as he though of Tea. He was glad she'd been accepted to Juliard. It wasn't that he wouldn't have followed her to California—he would have—but New York had begun to grow on him. Sighing, Seto rinsed the conditioner—Tea's, he noticed—and stepped out of the shower. He was glad the fall semester had just finished, if only because she had chosen to live in the student dorms on campus. This, unsurprisingly, meant that while they could get together for the odd lunch of dinner, they rarely saw each other. Except during breaks and holidays, Seto grinned. Naturally there was the added bonus that his college and Tea's were on virtually the same schedule, which meant their break periods usually overlapped. Shaking the water off his hair, Seto ran a comb through his hair and tossed his dirty clothes into the hamper before flinging his towel over his shoulders and wandering into the living room. He flopped down onto the couch and looked over at the wall behind it.

Tea had insisted on flaming a large group of pictures, most of which she had taken from her own private collection or from Mokuba, and hanging them on the wall behind the couch. Seto couldn't understand why this was so important to her, but for some reason it was. His eyes drifted along, lazily gazing at each picture, thinking of how much had changed in four years.

He looked over at the top right corner of the photo wall—as Tea had dubbed it—at the medium sized picture in a shiny gold frame. It was a picture of him and Tea standing outside the school in their prom outfits. Seto rolled his eyes at the memory. Prom had taken place less than three weeks after the Ryu mistake, as Seto privately refereed to it. Tea, fortunately, had already bought a prom dress as she planned on going with a group of her friends, but Seto himself had ended up pouring a large amount of money into purchasing his own prom ticket and a reservation at a nice restaurant. Luckily, Seto already owned a tuxedo and the restaurant he had managed to get had been decent, although Tea obviously had felt out of place. Seto still wondered if he would have been better off taking her to a dinner, where, at that time in her life, she would have better understood the menu and silverware. Dismissing the notion, Seto focused his attention back on the picture. Tea had been so excited about prom, Seto was relieved that he had not been totally socially inept and spoiled it for her.

Allowing his eyes, to travel across the wall, Seto's eyes came to rest on a regular sized picture in a cheap plastic frame. It was from Joey and Mai's engagement dinner a year ago. It had been cleverly disguised as a birthday dinner for Mai, but being one of Mai's closet friends, Tea had learned beforehand that it was to double as an engagement announcement. Naturally, Seto still would have declined the invitation, but Tea had dragged him along. 

'It wasn't too bad,' Seto reassured himself. 'At least Ryou was there. Even if he was getting over his latest boyfriend and getting drunk at the same time.'

Ryou, Seto noticed had a bad habit of dating and sleeping with the worst sorts of people. It seemed to Seto that, now they lived in the same city, Seto was receiving far too many phone calls from a love-distressed Ryou then was healthy for either of them.

Grimacing, Seto's eyes silently searched for a 'happier' picture. He quickly found the two largest pictures on the wall. Tea had hung them in the middle of the wall, to accent their importance or something to that effect. (Seto never had and never wanted to understand interior design—or exterior for that matter.) The first was a professional one of Seto with Mokuba and their parents. Seto, who was standing behind his Ms. Kaiba, seemed stiff and sober, while Mokuba, who was standing behind Mr. Kaiba, seemed energetic and youthful. Frowning, Seto remembered it was the best on of the bunch. The other three made him appear to be a statue instead of a human.

The other large photo was more recent. Before the beginning of Spring break, Tea had insisted that 'the gang', as she called it, get together. Seto, as was his custom, objected, but, as always, Tea got her way. She had argued that with Tristan leaving to live in California, Joey and Mai leaving for the Hawaiian Islands and Ryou taking time off to travel Western Europe, they needed to have a 'get together', which, of course, involved picture taking.

The picture Tea had chosen to hang on Seto's wall had been taken just outside Mai's bar, 'Hidden'. Mai was standing in front of the door with her arms wrapped around Joey's waist. Joey was kissing her on the cheek, oblivious to Mokuba, who was taking the picture. Tristan was standing off to the side, looking fairly uncomfortable. But then again, Seto though, any polite, straight guy would be rather red in the face with a drunken, flirtatious Ryou _that_ close to them. Seto himself was looking reasonably uncomfortable, but Tea was fairly beaming with happiness as she stood next to Seto holding his hand.

Laughing at himself and his musings, Seto heard the faint sound of the alarm clock ringing and stood up. Walking back into the bedroom, Seto found Tea clinging to the blankets and her pillow.

"Hey, Tea." Seto whispered, as he leaned across the bed to shake her awake. "Come on. Time to wake up."

"Five more minutes." Tea mumbled.

"You're the one who wanted to see a Broadway play today. We'll have to out of here in roughly an hour if we want to make my one o'clock reservation at the restaurant."

"Let's forget the lunch…...... and the play." Tea muttered as she rolled over to face Seto.

"I'd love to, but you'll yell at me later if I don't get you up. Come on. I'll make coffee." Seto laughed.

"Okay, okay." Tea sighed as she sat up. Kissing her on the forehead, Seto left the room and went into the kitchen to make coffee. Measuring out the sugar for Tea's coffee, Seto looked up when the phone rang. He actually considered letting the phone ring, but as his parents were out on a business trip and he was responsible for Mokuba, he reached over and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hello. Is this Seto Kaiba?" A voice with a heavy French accent asked.

"Yes, it is. How may I help you?" Seto asked as he removed to coffeepot from the maker and poured two mugs.

"I'm afraid I have some bad news for you. You may want to sit down, sir."

"Oh my God." Seto whispered as the coffeepot slipped from his fingers and smashed against the floor.


	2. II

Chapter 2: Be Careful What You Wish For

"Sir? Are you all right?" The voice on the other end of the phone line asked.

"My parents." Seto whispered, as he ignored the burning pains in his feet and ankles. "They are dead, aren't they?"

"Yes. I am very sorry, sir." The voice sighed, confirming Seto's fears. "Their private airplane went down over the country side of my country, France. Everyone on board was killed upon impact."

Leaning heavily against the wall, Seto felt his knees bend and he slid down until he was sitting on the floor.

"Seto?" Tea called as she came out of the bathroom, wrapping her towel tighter around her body. She came into the kitchen and looked down at her boyfriend who was sitting on the kitchen floor, surrounded by broken glass and scorching hot coffee. "Seto! What happened?"

"Sir, we need you to officially identify the bodies of your parents." The voice with the French accent continued. 

"I understand." Seto nodded, still unaware of Tea, who was kneeling next to him. "Can their bodies be sent over here?"

"Yes sir. We will be releasing the news report now."

"Could you, please, hold off on releasing the names for a few days? At least until Monday?"

"Of course, Sir. We will not release the names until the bodies have been identified, anyway."

"Thank you." Seto whispered, as he hung up the phone.

"Seto?" Tea asked, as she gently pulled the phone out of his grip. "Seto, what's wrong?"

"They're dead, Tea." Seto told her, finally meeting her eye. "My parents are dead."

"Oh, Seto." Tea sighed, her eyes tearing up. "I'm so sorry."

"Why? You never meet them. My God, I never even introduced you!"

"That's beside the point! They were people, Seto. Besides, I love you, and they were your family. Now, come on." Tea grimaced, as she slid her right arm around Seto's back and helped him stand. "Let's get you cleaned up and away from this broken glass."

"I'll have to tell Mokuba." Seto mentioned to Tea, as she assisted him walk towards the bathroom.

"Do you want me to come?"

"No. I'll have to do this alone. Besides, you shouldn't miss your play, or the lunch."

"Forget that Seto." Tea scolded him. "You are far more important than a silly play."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"**_Mr. Kaiba_**!" A loud voice cut exclaimed causing a surprised Mokuba to jump in alarm. Slipping off his chair, Mokuba found himself on the floor with a sore backside and head, as he smacked the back of his head on his desk as he slipped off his chair.

"Ow!" Mokuba exclaimed. "What?"

"Were you sleeping in my class again?" The irate teacher asked.

"Sorry, Mr. Roberts." Mokuba blushed as he stood up and sat back down on his seat. Turning to glance out the window, Mokuba wished something exciting would happen.

Of course in the school office, Seto was wishing things would return to normal.

"What do you mean I can't see my brother?!"

"You're not the legal guardian!"

"I will be in a couple days!" Seto growled. He knew for a fact that his parents had put him in charge of Mokuba while they were away, and he also knew he was the names guardian of his brother should anything happen to their parents. Which it had.

"I can't allow you to talk to him or take him out of school without a note from his parents. I'm sorry, sir. I don't make up these rules."

"Look!" Seto said, barely controlling his voice, as he pulled out his wallet and drivers license. "I'm his fucking brother! Why the hell can't I see him?"

"Sir! Please, your language! You are in a school! But all right, all right! You may talk to him, as long as you don't leave this office. One moment." The secretary sighed as she paged Mokuba's classroom. A minute later, Mokuba came into the office.

"Seto? What are you doing here?"

"Mokuba, come here." Seto sighed as he extended his arm and pulled Mokuba into a hug.

"Seto, what's wrong?"

"Mokuba…...... in a few days I'm going to be your legal guardian."

"But how…......?"

"We're returning to the way we were in Japan, Mokuba." Seto explained, cryptically.

"Mom and dad?"

"Plane crash. They were killed on impact."

"Are we leaving?"

"No. We'll stay in New York." Seto sighed. "Are you going to be all right or do you want to come home early?"

"I'd like to go home." Mokuba nodded slowly. "I'll go get my stuff."

"All right. But don't tell anyone. I want to keep this quite."

"Of course." Mokuba agreed, before running off to fetch his things. When he returned, Seto gave the secretary a quick wave, told her that Mokuba would be playing hooky for the rest of the day, and the two brothers left for Seto's apartment.

"You'll have to move in with me." Seto mentioned after a few minutes of walking in silence. While Seto was normally a very quite person, who enjoyed his privacy, any long period of silence with Mokuba was uncomfortable, due to Mokuba's normally talkative nature.

"I know. Are things going to change very much?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" Seto asked, his voice sharper than he had intended for it to be.

"Nothing." Mokuba shrugged, looking up at the tall skyscrapers. Reaching out, Seto put a hand on Mokuba's shoulder and turned his brother around.

"Mokuba, do you remember what I told you when we first went to the orphanage in Japan?"

"Yea. You said that we'd always be brothers."

"And?" Seto prompted.

"And that nothing could part us."

"And I meant it." Seto smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Unlocking the door, Seto let Mokuba enter first before pointing his brother in the direction of the guest bedroom, which was located next to the living room.

"Go ahead and drop your clothes off in there. I suppose later today or maybe this weekend we can return to the apartment and move the rest of your things back here." Seto shrugged, before turning to close the front door.

"What about the other things?"

"I suppose we'll keep a few things, but the rest we're going to have to auction."

"Oh."

"Seto?" Tea called as she came down the stairs. "Oh, hello Mokuba. How are you feeling?"

"I've been better." Mokuba shrugged and Tea simply nodded, before returning her attention to Seto.

"Seto, Kaiba Corps has been calling ever since you left. I think they know about the…...... you know."

"I suppose I'd better talk to them then." Seto nodded. "Mokuba, will you be all right if I leave you here with Tea?"

"I'll manage."

"Okay, I'm going to go down to the office. I shouldn't be too long, if you'll do me a favor, Tea."

"What?"

"Call ahead and tell them I'm coming. But also tell them that I want the company's lawyers to be present. We've got a lot of legal work to do."

"All right. I'll call them." Tea agreed. Seto smiled and kissed Tea on the forehead, before leaving. 


	3. III

(AN: I apologize in advance for the massive amounts of fluff and sap in this chapter. I swear, it's lethal. I'd tell you to skip this chapter, but parts of it are important, so...... yea. Oh, by the way. I've never actually written a lemon before, so I'm not going to even try. But should any of you wish to, I will accept them and post them in the story-giving credit to the author of course.)  
  
WARNING: THERE IS NOW YAOI IN THIS!!! Take it or leave it.  
  
Chapter 3: Kan ch'ai lieh huo  
  
Opening the door quietly, Seto slipped into the apartment and gently closed the door behind him.  
  
"Seto? Is that you?" A voice called and Seto looked up to see Tea standing on the landing wearing one of Seto's shirts, a pair of shorts and a sweater was tied around her waist.  
  
"Yea. It's me." Seto shrugged, as if to say 'I suppose'.  
  
"Is everything all right? Were there any problems? You are home a bit later than I thought you would be."  
  
"No, there was no trouble; there was only a lot of legal issues and red tape, which slowed us down a whole lot. I really just signed a couple papers and it was all over. Simply put, I'm the owner of Kaiba Corp, by inheritance, and CEO, by regulations, unless one or both of my parents returns to take over." Seto told Tea, as he walked towards the stairs and Tea slowly made her way down to him. Finally, he was standing in front of the stairs and she stood on the bottom stair. Reaching out, Seto took her hands gently in his and looked Tea in the eye.  
  
"Seto? Are you sure everything is all right?" Tea asked, dropping her gaze to look at her hands. Loosening his grip on her right hand, Seto reached up and cupped her chin. "Seto?"  
  
Swiftly Seto drew Tea's mouth closer and kissed her. Pulling her body closer, Seto wrapped his arm around her waist and his other hand slipped behind her neck. Sliding his tongue along her bottom lip, Seto silently tried to deepen the kiss, but Tea pulled away.  
  
"Seto, what's going on?" Tea asked, her eyes searching Seto's face.  
  
"Please Tea. I need to know that something will always stay the same." Seto whispered, his voice desperate and almost pleading with her.  
  
"My love for you will never change, Seto. You know that." Tea sighed. A small voice in the back of Tea's mind told her that she should be insulted by Seto's lack of faith in her love, but Tea quickly reminded herself that Seto's world had completely changed in less than twenty-four hours. It was the least she could do to be more understanding.  
  
"Please, Tea. I need to know that there is some thing stable in my life right now. I need you." Seto begged, his eyes wide and expressive. Leaning forward, Tea's lips quickly captured Seto's.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"You've got my attention. Make it quick."  
  
"He's signed the papers."  
  
"Ah, excellent. Perfect. This, of course, will leave him free to resign and give control to his brother."  
  
"May I ask why we wish his brother to be in control?"  
  
"Because his brother is younger and can be manipulated. His brother is simply a stepping stone."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Now, these friends of his......."  
  
"Yes, he himself only has one close friends but his girlfriend three close friends."  
  
"I see. Where are these friends located?"  
  
"Two of the girl's friends are located in Hawaii and another is still in New York. There is also another friend of hers in California, but we don't think she will ask him for any assistance, since they have lost contact."  
  
"Good. Send a few agents to monitor the two in Hawaii. The one in New York is already under our control."  
  
"Very well. Consider it done."  
  
"Now, tell me about the boy's friend."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Joey?" Mai asked as she placed her hand on the top of her fiancé's menu and pulled it down so she could look him in the eye.  
  
"Yea, Mai?" Joey asked, as he tried to tune out the news report that was blaring out of the radio behind the bar. Evidently a private jet had crashed in France. Returning his attention to Mai, he noticed she seemed a bit worried. "Wha' is id?"  
  
"I think we're being followed."  
  
"Ya mean da lady in da corner?"  
  
"Yes. You've noticed?"  
  
"Yea. She's been trailing' us since da beach."  
  
"Oh. What'll we do?"  
  
"I'll tell ya what we can do......." Joey trailed off, his voice suggestive. Mai grinned a little and Joey wiggled his eyebrows, before grabbing Mai hand and leading her back to their hotel room.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Hey! What time....... the bar close?" Ryou called to the bartender in horrible, broken Italian. The bartender replied, but the club was too noisy and Ryou's Italian was too poor for him to understand the answer. "Shit, I can't even understand the news program! All I'm getting is a smoldering pile of metal, and that's because it's a picture! Why is it I can ask for a hotel room in Italian and get exactly what I want, but I can't get anything else, like the time?"  
  
"It's a bit after one."  
  
"Huh?" Ryou asked, turning around to find the voice.  
  
A man around Ryou's age was standing behind him. He wore a thin, white, sleeveless, top with a white hood. Two small gold chains were attached to the chest area of the hoodie and hung there as decoration. He was also wearing tight blue jeans and gold cuffs around his wrists, upper arms and neck. As if laughing at Ryou's stare, the man pushed his medium-length, blonde hair behind his ears to show a pair of dangling, gold earrings. Pulling up a stool next to Ryou, the man shouted for the bartender and, in Italian as broken as Ryou's, ordered a beer. Ryou unconsciously felt his eyes travel down the man's back and blushed as he realized he was so openly admiring the others man behind.  
  
'Oh....... he is so fine.' Ryou thought, mentally licking his lips.  
  
'Dear lord, Ryou! You don't know the guy's name and you're hitting on him!'  
  
'Well, he is in a gay bar.'  
  
'So? All he did was give you the time! You are such a whore.' Ryou scolded himself. Ripping his eyes away, Ryou looked up to find the other man stifling a laugh.  
  
"Like what you see?" The man smiled, his violet eyes sparkling.  
  
"Do you always steal your earrings from your sister?" Ryou snapped. He didn't enjoy being made fun of.  
  
"Come on, don't be like that. Would you shun the only other English speaker in this bar?"  
  
"Whatever. Look, do you want something?"  
  
"That depends on you." The man grinned, before extending his hand. "My name's Marik."  
  
"Ryou." Ryou nodded, taking the offered hand.  
  
"Nice name. Where are you from?"  
  
"I'm a US citizen, if that's what you're asking. Where are you from?"  
  
"I'm a citizen of the world." Marik sighed. "But I currently live in Egypt."  
  
"So what are you doing here?"  
  
"Looking for a good time." Marik shrugged, before turning back to face the bar and taking a sip of his beer.  
  
"No ones ever complained before." Ryou blurted out, without thinking.  
  
"I've got a hotel room." Marik grinned, turning his attention back to Ryou.  
  
"You've got a date." Ryou laughed.  
  
AN: Wahahahaha! So, who are the mysterious callers? And what is their deal with those other people. (I dunno, it's all rather obvious to me, but that could be because I'm the author ^_^)  
  
Note about title: all titles in this story will be a saying/idiom or part of one. Kan ch'ai lieh huo is a Chinese idiom which means 'dried firewood (together with) roaring fire'. This is used to refer to two young lovers. (Or so I'm told) 


	4. IV

AN: _Loads_ of sexual humor…...... or just sexual references depending on how you see it. You've been warned, so get over it. Also, I have no experience with Italy and limited knowledge of New York City. Please, stay/work with me here.

Chapter 4: Feng shih ch'ang she

Moaning softly, Seto tried to ignore the sunlight that assaulted his eyelids.

'Huh?' Seto wondered silently. 'Since when has there been so much light in my room?'

"Seto?" Seto heard a voice call. "Seto, where are…...... OH MY GOD! SORRY!"

"What?" Seto wondered, opening his eyes. Glancing down her saw Tea was still asleep. But where were the covers…...... and why was he sleeping on the couch? "Oops."

"Will you two get dressed?!" Mokuba wailed from just outside the living room.

"Gimme a minute!" Seto groaned as he quickly pulled on his pants and tossed his trench coat over Tea's sleeping form. Walking out of the room, Seto stretched and tried to loosen up the muscles in his back. "What time is it?"

"Eight. Uh, do you two regularly have sex on the couch?" Mokuba asked, as he followed Seto into the kitchen. "'Cause if you do, I'll never be able to go into the living room again!"

"It's the first time."

"You two have had sex?"

"No! Mokuba, shut up."

"Oh! I get it!" Mokuba gasped, before winking at Seto. "Touchy subject, huh?"

"Excuse me?" Seto asked, as he made himself a cup of coffee.

"No, no. Say no more." Mokuba grinned holding up his hand. "I hear abstinence makes the heart grow fonder."

"Mokuba, you may be my brother, and you may be very dear to me, and I may be responsible for your welfare, but do not shut up right now, I will not hesitate to throw you out a window. Am I clear?"

"Crystal."

"Fine." Seto sighed as his cell phone went off. "One second. Hello?"

"Mister Kaiba?"

"Speaking."

"This is the New York City Morgue. We believe we have your parents, who were recently killed in a plane crash over France. Uh, as you are the next of kin, we need you to identify them."

"Oh. Right. Uh, perhaps around one? I—uh—I don't feel quite up to it right now." Seto admitted as he wandered out of the kitchen so Mokuba couldn't here the rest of the conversation.

"Yes, yes, I understand and that's fine. Around one then, and ,uh, I'm very sorry about your parents, sir."

"I know. So am I. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." The caller replied before hanging up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello. I'd like to speak with Mr. Jason Pegasus."

"I'm afraid he's out just now. May I please take a message?"

"Look, Ms…...... whatever your name is…...... I know for a fact that you and your boss, Mr. Pegasus, were just engaged in some sort of sexual conduct. I also know that you are most likely sitting on his lap or his desk and looking at him as we speak. Furthermore, I can promise you that if you do not give your employer the phone and get the hell out of the room, your body will be missing that very pretty head of yours. You've got exactly ten seconds. One…...... Two…...... Three…...... Four…......"

"Never mind counting. I'm here, and my secretary is gone."

"Good. Have you sent the message yet?"

"No."

"And why not?"

"Because there has been no official press release concerning the death of the parents."

"Damn."

"Exactly."

"Look, new plan. Set an agent on the boy's trail. If he identifies the body within twenty-four hours, send the message."

"If he doesn't?"

"If he doesn't within twenty-four hours? Send the message anyway."

"Very well. Oh, by the way, how did you know about my recent activities with my secretary?"

"I didn't. I guessed."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Rolling onto his back, Ryou opened his eyes and smiled to himself. It had been a long time since he had been able to sleep so soundly. Looking over towards the door, Ryou watched as it opened and Marik walked in carrying a box of what appeared to be Chinese take-out.

"Oh." Marik blinked in surprise. "You're still here."

"So are you." Ryou shrugged, as he sat up. 

"It's my room." Marik replied, as his eyes wandered down Ryou's chest. Blushing as he realized he was naked under the sheets, Ryou pulled the covers around his waist and looked back at Marik.

"What? You weren't so shy last night." Marik teased, as he walked over.

"Yes, well, that is completely different."

"Oh?"

"Yes. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to watch TV." Ryou sniffed as he grabbed the remote and turned on the television.

"Anything good on?" Marik asked as he pulled apart a pair of disposable chopsticks and started eating his sweet-and-sour chicken. Tossing Ryou a pair of chopsticks, Marik offered Ryou some of his food.

"So far? Just the Disney channel." Ryou admitted as he snagged a piece of chicken.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Tea?" Seto called as he walked towards the front door.

"Yea?"

"I'm…...... going out for a little bit. I should be back soon."

"Is everything all right?" Tea asked, coming out of the kitchen with a soda.

"Yes, I just don't want to worry Mokuba."

"Is this about your…......" Tea began, but Seto kissed her to stop her from talking. Pulling away, Seto kissed Tea's forehead and smiled sadly.

"Yes. It's about that. I'll be back soon."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Seto nodded, before walking out the door and down the stairs. Catching the subway to the outer area of the city, Seto finally got off and looked down at the directions he had found on the Internet. It took him half an hour, but Seto finally entered the city morgue and was only five minutes late for his appointment.

"I'm late." Seto informed the secretary at the front desk.

"You've got an appointment? You must be a first." The secretary replied dryly, not looking up. "Are you Seto Kaiba?"

"Yes."

"Go down the hall. Third door on the right is Dr. Hojo's office. He'll check your ID's and take you back to see your…...... relatives. There's some paper work to fill out, but the doctor will talk you through it."

"Oh." Seto blinked before following the man's directions and found the office easily. He knocked on the door and entered the small, white office. It was almost completely empty except for three hooks on the wall near the door, three chairs and a desk in the center of the room. The desk was pilled high with papers and disks of all types. The thin man with long, greasy, black hair, who was sitting behind the desk, looked up when Seto entered the room and quickly stood, extending his hand.

"Hello. You must be Seto Kaiba. I must say there is no family resemblance…......"

"I'm adopted."

"Oh yes. Yes, of course, that would explain it. Um, I'll need to see some identification before I can allow you back to see your…..... parents. Strictly procedure, I assure you."

"Of course; I understand. Here you go." Seto nodded, holding out his driver's license.

"Very well. Come with me." Doctor Hojo nodded. Seto went back with the doctor and looked at the two bodies of his parents. Fighting the urge to vomit, Seto nodded and Hojo re-covered the two bodies. Leading Seto back to the office, Hojo motioned for Seto to sit in one of the chairs. "Will you be all right?"

"I'm fine. It's just a bit of a shock."

"That's completely understandable." Hojo sighed as he handed Seto a glass of water.

"I was informed I need to fill out some papers."

"Here. Just sign once at the top and once at the bottom of all three pages."

"That's all?"

"Would you like more?"

"No. There."

"Fine then."

"So…...... it's official then?"

"Yes. Would you like me to call you a cab sir?"

"No. I'll be fine." Seto sighed as he got up and left. Reaching for his cell phone, Hojo dialed a number and waited for his call to be received.

"Speak."

"This is Hojo."

"Yes?"

"He signed all three pages. Even the 'go-ahead' for releasing the press information."

"Good."

"Sir, may I ask why we did not strike before this? Now the company fully belongs to Kaiba."

"Yes, but the temporary ownership takes precedence for another year. After that, Kaiba will fully own the company, but by then he'll be long gone. Besides, if Kaiba and his parents are to die before the parents are even known to be dead, people will begin to look into this whole matter too much. Not to mention, having to identify his brother and parents might prove too much for the youngest Kaiba. We want to control him, not brain damage him."

"Oh. I see sir."

"Good. Then hurry up and release the press statement."

AN: Yes, I did base Doctor Hojo on Hojo (the evil) from Final Fantasy 7. BTW, does anyone know who Pegasus's fellow conspirator is? I'd like your thoughts (I'm not sure if it's absolutely obvious or not.)

AN2: _Feng shih ch'ang she_- Large Wild Boars and Long Snakes. This is a Chinese idiom again, but it's really a metaphor for corruption and intrigue.


	5. V

WARNING: ANGST and THREATS now come into play!!!

Chapter 5: Tso T'an

"Good morning to you all, gentleman." Jason Pegasus grinned as he opened the door to the conference room and walked in. Three of the four men turned to face the man who had just entered, but the other one simply went over to a cabinet and took out a liquor bottle and a glass.

"'Morning Jason." A tall Japanese man nodded. Gozaburo Schmidt, the half-Japanese, half-German businessman was probably one of the most influential man in the Big Five, second only to Jason Pegasus. The Big Five was simply a group of the five biggest shareholders in Kaiba Corps. The five doubled as a board of directors and had almost as much influence as the CEO. 

Over in the corner of the room a man with long graying hair nodded to Pegasus and returned to his work. Rex Johnson, an English businessman with many stocks in other companies and quite a bit of influence in the archeology field, was probably the next most influential member of the Big Five. It was a subject of much confusion as to why Rex Johnson had ever invested in Kaiba Corp, as he was clearly more interested in the past.

John Underwood, one of the only influential Native American's in the technology industry, simply returned to his papers after flashing Pegasus a smirk. Underwood was only of the most cunning of the five and for that reason no one trusted him an inch. Pegasus had once told a business associate that Underwood could have been a very powerful businessman, except Underwood made sure everyone know he could not be trusted.

The only man who had not acknowledged Pegasus's presence was Carlo Roba, the least influential of the five. Sipping his brandy, Roba finally turned to face Pegasus.

"Well?" Roba asked, his voice heavy with an Italian accent.

"Well what, Carlo?" Pegasus asked, his voice dripping with false innocence.

"I've told you before Pegasus. You are to call me Roba or Mr. Roba. I am not your friend, and you are not mine." Roba glared. Putting down their work, Underwood, Johnson and Schmidt looked up and watched closely. _Anyone_ challenging Pegasus was rare and not to be missed. "Now, you know what I am asking, so what is your answer?"

"I'm afraid I have no idea what you are talking about, _my friend_."

"Damn it, Pegasus! I'm talking about this conniving take over and you know it! How can you be planning this?!"

"What are trying to say, sir?" Schmidt asked walking over.

"Do you think he wants out?" Underwood smirked.

"Roba, do you know what we do to sell outs?" Johnson asked, coming up to stand with the others. Roba backed up a step and tried to avoid looking at the four other men standing before him.

"We crush them and their families." Pegasus sneered.

"Leave my family out of this."

"Why should we? Roba, if you try to sell out or tell anyone, we'll crush each and everyone of your brothers." Schmidt threatened.

"I wasn't going to sell out! Maybe we should rethink this is all."

"Please." Pegasus laughed coldly. "Besides it's too late anyway."

"What?"

"The message has been sent already." Pegasus smiled, before glancing at his watch. "Oh will you look at the time? I've got to pick up my wife. Goodbye. I'll see you all at the meeting tomorrow, correct?"

Johnson, Schmidt and Underwood nodded quickly, and after a split second, Roba slowly followed suit. There was a brief period of silence before Roba suddenly stalked out of the room.

"Leaving so soon Mr. Roba?" The secretary asked as Roba marched by.

"Yes." Roba snapped, before letting out a sigh. "Sorry, Serenity. I didn't mean to yell. It's just so aggravating working with those other four."

"I understand, Sir. They don't like me either." Serenity smiled. "Will you be going home for the day?"

"Yes, but I'll be back for the eleven o'clock meeting tomorrow. Perhaps you shouldn't?"

"Well, I was supposed to take some time off soon anyway. My eye doctor tells me all the computer work is damaging my eyes." Serenity admitted.

"Good. Why don't you take a week off in that case? We wouldn't want you to get hurt."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hello, Seto." Mokuba smiled as he walked into the main room. "Where have you been?"

"Just…...... out for a walk." Seto shrugged, smiling slightly. Seto knew he couldn't really lie to Mokuba—Mokuba could read his older brother like a book—but it wasn't a complete lie. 

After he had visited the morgue, Seto had simply wandered around the city without a real destination. Lost in though, Seto had taken the subway to his old high school and walked from there to his old apartment. He hadn't meant to actually walk inside, but one step lead to another and, before he knew it, he was in the elevator heading to his parent's apartment. Looking around, Seto had wander into his parent's old room and had looked around at the pictures that had been hung on the walls. A few of them were of people Seto had never met, mostly an elderly Middle Eastern man. But there had been pictures of Mokuba and Seto. Seto had unenthusiastically searched through some files his parents had lying around their room and was surprised to find his parents had kept a copy of Seto and Mokuba's adoption papers at the house. Shaking his head, Seto shook his mind out of his memories and mentally kicked himself for thinking about the past. '_What is past is past. Only the present and future matter._'

"Mokuba? Where are you?" Tea called as she came in. "It's time for…...... oh. Seto, you look so pale. Mokuba, why don't you go set the table for dinner."

Mokuba frowned but nodded, and left the room. Walking over to Seto, Tea placed a hand on Seto's shoulder and lifted his chin.

"Seto?"

"Oh God, Tea!" Seto sobbed, pulling her against his chest. "I saw them! They really are dead! They're dead!"

"Shush." Tea soothed, stroking Seto's hair. "Quiet. It's all right."

"Oh, God, Tea. I'm so sorry." Seto whispered as he finally pulled away. "I don't mean to be such a baby."

"Seto, it's only natural. So, you went to the morgue?" Tea asked and Seto nodded. "And?"

"It's them, no doubt about it. They're dead." Seto sighed softly, not wanting Mokuba to overhear. But, standing in the Kitchen, Mokuba heard every word.

AN: _Tso T'an_- Baring the left shoulder. This is used to talk about giving protection; don't ask it's a really weird story.

AN2: You like the Big Five? Actually if you look at each of the five's names, you'll see that either their first or last name is a character in Yu-Gi-Oh. Little FYI there. Oh, and Serenity is not related to Joey in this story.


	6. VI

Chapter 6: Out of the frying pan and into the fire

"That was excellent Pizza, Tea." Seto smiled as he tossed the paper napkins and plates into the trash can.

"Why thank you. I'll order Pizza Hut again." Tea grinned.

"Oi! Seto, go one and take your fax!" Mokuba called. "Stupid thing kicked me off the Internet! Why can't you have two phone lines?"

"So, what are you trying to do, Mokuba?" Tea asked, as she looked over Mokuba's shoulder.

"Well, for the last four weeks I've been trying to hack into the CIA network. I mean, naturally, I've done it before, but now they've gone and changed the passwords and backdoors on me. Stupid viruses." Mokuba muttered and Seto rolled his eyes.

"Quit showing off and stop scaring Tea with your lies."

"Who said I was lying?" Mokuba asked the ceiling as Seto ran up to his room where the fax machine was. Grabbing the paper off the machine, Seto read the short message and blinked in surprise.

**__**

RESIGN OR DIE!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"And you can't figure out who sent it?"

"No. The number is encoded." Mokuba shrugged. "I doubt the phone company has any idea."

"Seto, what are we going to do?"

"Tea, it's all right. Everything will be fine. I'll figure something out."

"But Seto!"

"But what, Mokuba?"

"But they're threatening you! We don't even know who they are!"

"Of course we do. It's the Big Five."

"Who?" Tea asked.

"The board of directors. Scum of the earth, but good businessmen."

"Seto, let's just call the police! Let them deal with it!" Mokuba pleaded. "This isn't safe!"

"No. I want to keep this quite; I can handel this myself. Besides, I don't think I'm in any real danger."

"But Seto!"

"Seto please! Listen to your brother!"

"I am. Look, they want me to resign so Mokuba can take over. It's the only logical reason. So…...... if Mokuba can escape, their plan will fall apart." Seto reasoned, as he stood up and began to pace. Suddenly, the phone rang and Mokuba picked it up.

"Hello? Yes. All right. One minute." Mokuba nodded before handing the phone to Seto. "It's for you."

"Hello?"

"Mr. Kaiba?"

"Serenity?"

"Hey." Serenity laughed. "Glad you remember me."

"How could I forget my father's secretary."

"Well, now I'm yours, I suppose, but that's not why I called."

"What is it then?"

"I'm not exactly sure what is going on, but I've been tipped off that something is going on that's not quite right."

"What do you mean?"

"There's going to be a meeting of the Big Five at eleven a.m. tomorrow and I've been ordered to take the day off."

"Ordered?"

"Well, not ordered, but it was a very pointed suggestion."

"Oh." Seto nodded. "Well, thank you. I'll keep this in mind."

"Do you think something is wrong?"

"No. No, not at all." Seto lied quickly. "But why don't you take that day off anyway?"

"I will. Well, I'll see you later."

"Yea. Later." Seto nodded, before hanging up.

"Who was that?"

"My dad's secretary. Turns out I'm right. The Big Five is planning something."

"Seto, why don't you just resign?" Tea asked suddenly.

"I can't do that." Seto shook his head. "No one threatens me and no one tells me what to do. And, certainly, no one will use my family like pawns."

"So what are you planning?" Mokuba asked.

"I'm not quite sure." Seto admitted, before sitting down on the couch, next to Tea. The three of them sat in silence for a bit before Seto stood up and began to pace rapidly.

"I've got it!" Seto smiled, suddenly snapping his fingers. "It's brilliant. And ever so simple. But first, everyone needs some sleep. We'll start tomorrow."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Quickly typing in to the address box the web site for a airlines, Mokuba opened up another window and scrolled down a list of flights leaving that day.

"Mokuba?" Tea asked walking into the room. "What are you doing up so early?"

"A bit of work for Seto. Say, got any relatives down south?"

"Well, My parents live in Tampa, Florida."

"Perfect." Mokuba smiled. "And how about west of the Mississippi?"

"I know Tristan."

"Oh, good point."

"What are you doing?"

"Well, I'm booking five sets of two tickets to five separate locations about the world."

"Why?"

Shaking his head, Mokuba pressed a finger to his lips and pointed to the computer screen.

'We can't say any more. Seto things the room might be bugged.' Tea read silently.

'Better safe than sorry.' Tea wrote back. 'So, why five sets of plane tickets?'

'For me and you!'

'?'

'It'll confuse the Big 5.'

'Oh. Where are we going then?'

'Where ever you want. We're to go to the station in about an hour and get train tickets to somewhere where we don't know anyone.'

'Train tickets?'

'Seto will give us enough money for train tickets and a hotel room and some food.'

'Why are we to leave?'

'Seto wants us safe.' Mokuba shrugged. Tea nodded and straightened up.

"So, Mokuba. When you're done that do you want some coffee?"

"Well, all right. Thank you."

"Your welcome." Tea nodded before typing another message.

'We'll need some clothes. Shall I pack for you?'

'No. I need to bring my laptop anyway. I'll just pack around it.'

"Okay. Talk to you when the coffee is done." Tea smiled before leaving to pack. Making her way up the stairs, Tea almost bumped into Seto.

"'Morning." Seto smiled, kissing Tea on the forehead.

"'Morning." Tea smiled back and looked down as Seto pressed something into her hand. It was a roll of money—mostly tens and twenties—along with a note.

"Is Mokuba doing his 'homework'?"

"Yes. When did you get him up?"

"Eight. He needs the time." Seto frowned and leaned so he could whisper in her ear. "Did he fill you in?"

"Yes." Tea whispered back. "I'm going to pack."

"Good. I'll make coffee."

"Make Mokuba a cup." Tea smiled before she moved past Seto and began to pack.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Is everything set up?" Seto asked once Mokuba and Tea were packed.

"The tickets are ready. I'm packed." Mokuba nodded.

"I'm packed, with everything." Tea agreed.

"Good. Mokuba, a present for you." Seto smiled before handing Mokuba a small antenna.

"What's this?"

"A audio bug." Seto smiled, showing Mokuba a small pin he had clipped to his trench coat.

"OH! COOL!" Mokuba exclaimed.

"Glad you like it. Well, I guess I'll be seeing you two later then." Seto sighed, hugging Mokuba. 

"Be careful, Seto." Mokuba sighed, returning Seto's hug.

"There's nothing to worry about, Mokuba. Everything will be fine and I'll see you again in two days. Max!" Seto grinned, hugging Tea. "Wait a second. Tea, you aren't wearing a vest." 

"A what?"

"A vest." Mokuba repeated, showing Tea the bulletproof vest he was wearing underneath his sweater.

"You'll have to take mine." Seto sighed, as he took off his trench coat and unzipped his vest. "It's probably a bit big and you probably won't be very comfortable, but you'll have to make due."

"But what about you?" Tea asked, not taking the vest from Seto's outstretched hand.

"I don't need it. Besides, you don't want me to constantly worry about you, do you?" Seto asked. Letting out a defeated sigh, Tea took Seto's vest and slipped it on under her jacket.


	7. VII

Chapter 7: Early is on time; on time is late.

"Yes?"

"It's me."

"Dear God. Not again. All right. What is it this time?"

"I'm afraid the girl and the boy may be making a break for it."

"The brother?"

"Yes sir."

"_SO FOLLOW THEM YOU DIM-WITTED, STUPID FOOL! DO YOU NOT HAVE A BRAIN IN YOUR HEAD?"_

"Sorry."

"Damn straight you are! Never mind, Pegasus! You just make sure you have the girl and the brother! I'm coming over to America!"

"I shall await you then." Pegasus mumbled and heard a click on the other side of the line. Letting out a sigh, Pegasus closed his cell phone and pulled on his coat. Glancing at his watch, he noticed he still had a half-hour to get to Kaiba Corps. "Oh well. I think that now it is time to take matters into my own hands."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Tea!"

"Huh? Yugi! What are you doing here?" Tea asked as she turned to face the shorter boy who had come up behind her.

"I was just going on a day trip. I figured it would be a change from my normal routine, you know."

"Oh. Right." Tea nodded.

"So, what are you doing here? And with Mokuba. Is Kaiba with you as well?"

"Uh, no. Just me and Mokuba today. We were going to spend a few days together. Just getting to know each other." Tea lied, as she looked in the direction of the men's room where Mokuba had gone. Brushing a lock of hair behind her ear, she shifted her weight to her right foot and looked down at the ground.

"Wow. That sound like fun. So, where are you going?"

"Uh." Tea faltered. "Springfield."

"Springfield?"

"Yea. You know. Springfield, Illinois." Tea shrugged, wondering what possessed her say Sprngfield.

"Oh. So…...... do you have your tickets yet?"

"No, not yet."

"Tea!" Mokuba called coming out of the restroom. "Tea!"

"What's wrong?"

"We're being followed!" Mokuba explained. "I saw a guy in the bathroom!"

"Dear God." Tea hissed through clenched teeth. "Damn."

Suddenly spinning on her heels, Tea grabbed Mokuba and Yugi, and dragged them to the ticket counter.

"Three to Springfield." Tea muttered.

"That's two hundred and fifty dollars." The teller sighed, pulling out the three tickets. Mokuba tugged on her sleeve and Tea saw a tall man in a dark suit starting towards them. Grabbing the three tickets, Tea shoved a bundle of bills equaling thee hundred dollars at the clerk. "What about your change?"

"Keep it!" Mokuba called back and Tea raced down the station. Pushing Yugi and Mokuba onto the train, Tea jumped on after them and the three stood in the door space, gasping for breath as the train pulled away from the station.

"Tea?" Yugi whispered after a minute. "I was going to Washington, D.C."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'Hummmm.' Seto thought as his eyes scaled the front of his business. The one sided mirrors that made up the walls of the skyscraper shone brightly even though the sky was overcast and threatening. 'Well, it is ten 'til eleven, but it can't hurt to be early.'

Tugging on his trench coat, Seto squared his shoulders and entered his building. Frowning, Seto tried to figure out why the building was so strangely empty. He was used to ever floor being filled with life and the shouts of people. Glancing at his watch, Seto almost smacked himself. Of course it was empty! It was Sunday and Easter Sunday to boot! That wasn't to say that no one was present, it was just that…...... 99.99 percent of the workers took the weekend of Easter Sunday off.

Sighing, Seto walked over to one of the chairs opposite the main secretary's desk and sat down. He looked at his watch again and frowned. It was only five 'til eleven. Tapping his foot impatiently, Seto almost missed Pegasus's entrance.

"Why, hello, Seto." Pegasus grinned. "I'm surprised to see you here. You never struck me as a workaholic."

"Spare me, Pegasus." Seto snorted.

"I never thought I would hear you beg for your life." Gozaburo smirked as he entered the building followed by Underwood and Johnson.

"So," Seto muttered softly. "All of the Big Five is against me? Whatever happened to loyalty?"

"It died. Just as you will if you do not resign and give your position to your brother."

"Never, Pegasus. It is you all who must step down. Renounce your threat and I am willing to pretend this never happened."

"I wish it hadn't come to this." Gozaburo sighed as Pegasus drew a gun from his coat pocket.

"No!" Roba cried as he ran into the empty room. But it was too late. The gunshot echoed in the large room and Seto jerked backwards, stumbling a few steps. Falling backwards, there was a small thud as Seto's body hit the ground and did not move. Running over to Seto's side, Roba placed a hand on the hole in Seto's jacket and gasped as red blood began to soak Seto's trench coat. Pulling his bloody hand away from the wound, Roba's eyes widened in fear.

"You killed him, Pegasus. He's dead!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Finally find seats on a fairly deserted part of the train, Tea sat with Yugi to explain the current situation while Mokuba took out his laptop and began to set up the reception antenna for the bug on Seto's coat. After a minute, Mokuba squealed in delight and Tea came over with Yugi following close behind.

"Is it working?"

"Yep! Here; listen to it!"

"_So,_" the trio heard Seto mutter. "_All the Big Five is against me? Whatever happened to loyalty?_"

"_It died. Just as you will if you do not resign and give your position to your brother._"

"_Never, Pegasus. It is you all who must step down. Renounce your threat and I am willing to pretend this never happened._"

"_I wish it hadn't come to this._" Gozaburo sighed and a rustle of clothes could be heard in the background.

"_No!_" A new voice screamed, just as a gunshot blasted through the speakers.

"SETO!" Mokuba screamed as Seto grunted and the sound of a body hitting the floor could be heard. There was the sound of running feet as the speakers began to crackle with static. Wincing and straining his ears, Mokuba could tell the bullet had probably damaged parts of the bug and it would probably stop working in a matter of seconds. The static became worse, but just before the speakers fell silent, Mokuba made out a voice. 

"_You killed…...... dead!_"

AN: I'm evil, aren't I? So what's going to happen now that Seto's dead? Guess you'll have to wait, won't you?


	8. VIII

Chapter 8: On the other hand

"So," Marik whispered as he kissed Ryou's neck. "What do you want to do now?"

"Are you trying to seduce me?"

"Maybe."

"Then could you please do that in the room? I'm all for the sentiment, but the hallway is just not the place."

"Oh fine." Marik pouted as he took out his keycard and opened the door to his hotel room. "Now what do you want to do?"

"Watch TV." Ryou teased as he brushed past Marik and hopped onto the bed. Flipping on the TV, Ryou smirked at the stunned Marik. "Guess what I found yesterday morning."

"What?"

"The news in English."

"Really?"

"Yep. So, I think I'll watch the news at twelve."

"Fine. I need a shower."

"You bet you do." Ryou snickered pinching his nose.

"Humph. Want to join me?"

"Maybe later. News come first."

Rolling his eyes, Marik closed the door to the bathroom behind him and took a shower. When he was finished he shook most of the water off his hair, wrapped a towel around his waist, and walked into the main space of the hotel room. Ryou was on the phone, tapping his foot impatiently. Sitting on the bed, Marik watched his boyfriend and waited for Ryou to finish with his phone call. It didn't last long. A minute later, Ryou let out a frustrated yell and slammed the phone down. Marching over to the bed, Ryou pulled his suitcase out from under the bed and dropped it next to Marik.

"Ryou?" Marik asked as Ryou began to shove dirty clothes and hygiene products into the case. "Ryou, what's going on?"

"I'm going home."

"Wha-what? Why?"

"The people killed in the plane crash were finally, officially, identified today."

"So? Is that any reason to jump on a plane back home?"

"I knew them."

"You…...... knew them?" 

"Well, more specifically, I know their sons."

"I don't understand."

"Look, my best friends parents were just killed. You think I'm going to stay here in Italy?"

"I'm coming with you." Marik declared, grabbing his own suitcase.

"Marik…......"

"No, it's final. Besides, how do you plan on getting back home?"

"Well, I hadn't…......"

"Don't worry about it." Marik smiled, kissing Ryou on the forehead. "I know a guy who owes me a favor. We'll be in New York before midnight."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Oh my god." Tea gasped as she sat down in a nearby seat. "He's…...... dead."

"No." Mokuba whispered. "He can't be."

"Why would they lie?" Tea asked. "They didn't even know the bug was there. He's dead. Dead, dead, dead. And I took his jacket. I shouldn't have taken his jacket!" Tea sobbed as she unzipped her jacket, ripped off the bulletproof vest and flung it aside. Resting her head in her hands, Tea let out a strangled sob and Yugi reached over to rest a hand on her shoulder. Shutting down his laptop, Mokuba tried to fight the tears that were threatening to spill over onto his cheeks. 

"Seto, why were you such an idiot?" Mokuba asked his lap once he had put his laptop back into his backpack. "How could you?"

"Mokuba Kaiba?" A voice asked and Mokuba looked up with a start. He'd been so deep in though he hadn't noticed the three men who had approached them.

"Uh…......" Mokuba stammered, unsure how to answer.

"We'd like you to come with us." The tallest man explained.

"I'm not Mokuba Kaiba."

"Yes you are." The tallest man sighed and the other two men pulled small handguns out of their jackets. Hearing Mokuba gasp, Tea looked up to see the muzzle of a gun pressed against her forehead. Mumbling a prayer, Yugi closed his eyes and tried to ignore the gun pressed against his own face.

Biting his lip, Mokuba took in Tea's tear-streaked face and Yugi's panic-stricken expression and swallowed.

"Yes. I am Mokuba Kaiba."

"Please, come with us." The tallest man, obviously the leader, grunted and Mokuba was grabbed by one of the other men. Pushed and shoved down the hall of the train, Mokuba, Tea and Yugi soon found themselves in a private compartment. 

"Sit down." One of the men with guns commanded the trio and the order was instantly obeyed. It isn't wise to argue with someone holding a gun.

"Yes. Well, there is an unexpected guest." The other man with a gun muttered into a cell phone. "Both of them? Very well. I'll await your other call."

Hanging up the cell phone, the man nodded to the leader and Mokuba was hauled off the couch by his upper arm.

"Mokuba!" Tea called, reaching out for the younger boy, but the man who had been talking on the phone pointed a gun at her chest and she stopped.

"Sit back down." The leader commanded and Tea comply slowly. "It seems our boss doesn't need you, girl, or you, boy. All we need is this Kaiba."

"Please, leave him alone." Tea begged.

"You shouldn't beg for him, girl. You're the one we've been ordered to shot." The man holding Mokuba laughed. Letting out a low groan, Yugi covered his eyes and began to shake violently. Snickering, the leader of the three men pulled out a traditional revolver of his own and placed two bullets in the chamber, before aiming it at Tea's forehead.

"NO!" Mokuba screamed, shoving his elbow back into his captor's stomach. Doubling over in pain, the man let out a grunt and released his hold. Startled by the noise in the background, the leader fired too early and a bullet nicked the back of the couch, just left of Tea's shoulder. Turning around, the man backhanded Mokuba and the leader helped Mokuba's captor to his feet.

"Yugi?" Tea asked, as she noticed Yugi was shaking. "Yugi, are you alright? Speak to me!"

Pulling Yugi's hands away from his face, Tea gasped and pulled back. Yugi's eyes had fogged over and he was looking at her with a blank stare. Falling off the couch, Tea watched as Yugi stood up and lifted a straight back chair over his head. Throwing it at the leader, Yugi let out a feral scream and rushed at the other two men.

Crawling over to Mokuba, Tea tried to ignore the screams in the background as Yugi beat the three men. Shaking Mokuba's shoulders, Tea sighed in relief as Mokuba opened his eyes.

"What…...... what happened?"

"You startled the man who was going to shoot me. He missed and the gunshot scared Yugi enough that he reverted to his other personality." Tea explained.

"Is he dangerous?" Mokuba whispered as he watched Yugi repeatedly punched and beat an already unconscious opponent.

"Yes, he is dangerous to everyone in this room, including us and himself. But he's running purely on adrenaline. This change in personality never last very long, which is good, because he's completely uncontrollable when he's like this." Tea whispered, before laying a finger on Mokuba's lips. And so they sat, huddled in a corner, waiting for Yugi to run out of energy, anger and fear.

AN: Did anyone else realized that this is the first time Yami has appeared in 'What you have' and 'Ryu'? Just a fun fact there.


	9. IX

Chapter 9: Tricks up your sleeve

Sitting up slowly, Seto gingerly touched the hole in his jacket and winced at the pain that lanced through his chest.

"Thank God…...... my jacket have a bulletproof vest built in." Seto winced as he imagined the bruises forming on his torso. Seto had never really thought about the built in blood-packets that splattered like real blood when pierced, but those packets had ultimately saved his life. If any of the Big Five had realized that the bullet had not in fact killed him, Seto might have received another bullet…...... through his brain. Pulling out his cell phone, Seto hesitated only a second before dialing the police.

Ten floors up, the Big Five took their seats at the large conference table.

"Well, gentlemen. It seems the takeover has been a complete success." Pegasus smiled as he leaned back in his chair.

"I agree." Johnson smirked and Underwood nodded.

"How can you three just sit there and say that?" Roba asked, standing up abruptly.

"Excuse me?"

"You just killed a man, and all you can consider is your own wealth? You told me there was to be no blood shed!"

"Well," Pegasus shrugged, "Plans change. Do you object?"

"YES!" Roba screamed.

"And just what do you plan to do about it?" Gozaburo asked, looking up from his inspection of his hands. "Tell the police?"

"I just might!"

"I highly doubt that. For one, I very much doubt that you would make it much further than that door. For another, even if you did make it to the police, and you did manage to tell your story, and they did believe you over the four of us, you'd still be incriminating yourself. You're in too deep! If we go down, Roba, you're going to go down with us." Gozaburo shrugged. "We're all in this together, and now that Kaiba is dead, there is no way out…...... but death. So turn around and head out that door. There will be a bullet in your head before your hand touched the doorknob."

"Well, aren't you going to go?" Underwood sneered, as Roba sat down heavily.

"No." Seto cried as he threw open the door, causing all of the Big Five to jump in their seats. "None of you are going any where!"

"You're still alive?" Gozaburo asked, standing up.

"Of course, you fools! I'm immortal!" Seto rolled his eyes as he closed the door behind himself and crossed to stand in front of the conference table. Searching the faces of the Big Five, Seto noticed that the Carlo Roba actually seemed grateful and happy to see him.

"There is no such thing as immortality, Seto." Pegasus shrugged, and pulled Gozaburo back into his chair. "What do you want?"

"I want to ask you all a few questions."

"Are we being tape recorded?" Underwood joked.

"Of course."

"Well, then. Fire away." Johnson snickered, taking Seto's truthful statement to be another joke.

"Why did you shot me?"

"Because we knew you would never resign and we needed you out of the way."

"So? If I died, Mokuba would simply take over."

"But we could manipulate him. He would have become a figure head."

"Aren't hostile take-over so much fun?" Gozaburo snickered.

"Yes indeed." Seto smirked as he walked back over to the door. Opening it, Seto stepped out of the way and twenty men and women dressed in police uniforms ran in.

"Hands up! You're all under arrest for conspiracy and attempted murder." One of the police shouted and ten of the others moved to handcuff the Big Five.

"What the hell?" Johnson snarled as he attempted to struggle against the two cops who were walking him out the door.

"I'm going to call me lawyer!" Underwood shouted as the police chief began to read each of the Big Five their rights. Only Gozaburo and Roba remained silent as they were lead out of the room. As a policeman moved to take Pegasus out of the room, Pegasus jerked away and glared at Seto.

"You may think you have won, boy, but I've always got the last laugh! Do you want to know where your girlfriend is now? _IN HELL! I SENT HER THERE! AND I'M GOING TO SEND YOUR BROTHER DOWN TO JOIN HER!_"

"What?!" Seto cried as Pegasus was dragged out of the room.

"_I HAVEN'T CALLED YET! AND THERE ISN'T A CHANCE IN HELL I'M GOING TO CALL NOW! MY MEN WERE ORDERED TO SHOT YOUR BROTHER DEAD IF I DIDN'T CALL BEFORE TWELVE TWENTY. AND I DON'T MEAN IN THE HEART, SETO! I MEAN IN THE BRAIN, WHERE YOUR MEDLESOME BULLETPROOF VESTS CAN'T SAVE THE DAY! YOU THOUGHT YOU COULD HIDE THAT BROTHER OF YOURS ON A TRAIN, BUT I HAD MY MEN FOLLOW THEM WHEN THEY RAN! SO SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR PRECIOUS BROTHER AND GIRLFRIEND, BOY! AND NEVER FORGET THIS; IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!_" Pegasus screamed as the police tightened their grip and began to walk faster.

Feeling the blood drain from his face, Seto slumped into a seat.

"I'm sure he was not serious." The police chief whispered. "I'm sure he was only bluffing."

"No. He knew they were on a train. Besides, Pegasus would never bluff." Seto whispered, before he glanced at his watch. It was twelve twenty-five. 

"They're dead. They're both dead. Everyone's dead." Seto whispered, as his eyes slipped closed and he fainted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Shaking Mokuba, Tea watched as the younger boy's eyes opened.

"What? Huh?"

"Come on, Mokuba. We've got to get off here. It's our stop. Uh, can you carry the three bags?"

"I think I can. Is Yugi still asleep?"

"Yes, but I'll carry him." Tea sighed as she hoisted the unconscious body of Yugi onto her back. "Thank goodness dance strenghtens your back."

Stepping off the train, Tea and Mokuba walked to the exit and looked around.

"Well, we'll need a hotel and I don't think it's a good idea to walk there." Tea muttered.

"Look," Mokuba exclaimed pointed a little ways off. "There's a place we can catch a taxi."

"Good." Tea nodded. Walking over to the hiring station, Tea was able to book a hotel room for three and hire a taxi. When they entered their hotel room, Mokuba immediately went to the bathroom (nature called) and Tea lay Yugi on the bed.

"I don't understand." Mokuba admitted as he came out of the bathroom. "He's been sleeping since one and it's almost nine."

"He kept going until he didn't have a drop of energy or adrenaline left. His body must be extremely worn and I'm sure it's going to take a long time before Yugi is one hundred percent better." Tea explained. "Which reminds me. I'm going to go to a convenience store and pick up some aspirin and maybe an ice pack or two, for Yugi. I get the feeling he's going to need them."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tapping her foot impatiently, Tea waited for the lady in front of her to hurry up.

"Oh dear, I'll have to write a check." The lady sighed. "I know it's Sunday, but what's the date?"

"The…...... 20th." The cashier supplied.

"What?!" Tea gasped, as she clutched the two boxes of aspirin and the box of icepacks to her chest. "But that means…...... OH NO!"

Running off, Tea left the other two women to stare, bewilder, after her.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Tea? Is that you?" Mokuba asked as Tea entered the hotel room.

"Yes, it's me."

"Yugi woke up a few minutes ago, but he just went back to sleep."

"All right." Tea nodded as she put her purchases down on the small desk next to the television.

"Tea?"

"Yes?"

"What are we going to do?" Mokuba asked. Turning around to face him, Tea smiled sadly.

"I have no idea. We can't go back to New York and now that Seto is…...... gone…....... I just don't know Mokuba. I suppose we'll stay here for a while."

"Are we going to have to go to the police?"

"I think it might be the best thing, just not now."

"Then when?"

"I don't know. I don't know anything!" Tea sobbed, sinking down onto the bed. Sitting down next to her, Mokuba reached over and hugged her, a tear running down his cheek. Pulling Mokuba closer, Tea hugged him back and let Mokuba cry into her shoulder.

"I miss him so much." Mokuba moaned through his tears.

"So do I." Tea sighed. "We all do."

AN: HA! I'll bet I had you all scared! But honestly, would I truly kill Seto? But isn't ironic that Seto thinks Tea and Mokuba are dead when Tea, Mokuba and Yugi think Seto is dead? ^_^


	10. X

Chapter 10: nu fa ch'ung kuan

Letting out a small groan, Tea opened her eyes and sat up. During the course of the night Mokuba had curled up next to her, his legs pressed against his chest and his back pressed against Tea's. Jumping as the bathroom door squeaked open, Tea looked up to see Yugi coming out of the bathroom, spiking his hair.

"Good Morning." Tea smiled.

"Oh, uh. Hello." Yugi whispered, trying to straighten his T-shirt. "Uh, I'm sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to lose control like that. I…...... didn't hurt anyone…...... did I?"

"Just the three men holding us hostage. And I'm glad you hurt those men, Yugi. They would have killed both of us if you hadn't stopped them."

"I know that. But what if I had hit you…...... or Mokuba? I might have killed one of you."

"It didn't happen, Yugi. Don't worry about it." Tea smiled. "Oh, I almost forgot. I bought you some icepacks for your hands and some aspirin. I thought your hands might be bothering you."

"Well, I didn't split any knuckles like I've done sometimes in the past, but my hands are a bit sore. Was I fighting long?"

"No. About five minutes is all."

"Oh good. Tea, are you all right? You look a bit pale today."

"No, no. I just remembered something. Uh, will you excuse me. I need to take a shower." Tea whispered as she grabbed her backpack and one of the bags from the convenience store and ran into the bathroom. Turning on the shower full blast, Tea knelt over the tub, holding her stomach. Praying the shower covered any other sounds, she gagged twice and threw-up. After vomiting up everything in her stomach, Tea stripped down and opened up the bag from the convenience store.

"Well." She told herself. "It's now or never."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Did you hear something?" Mokuba asked as he looked up from his laptop.

"Nope."

"Are you sure? Maybe one of us should check on Tea. She has been in the bathroom a while."

"Forty-five minutes."

"I'm going to go see if she's all right." Mokuba sighed as he put his laptop back on the bed and walked towards the bathroom door. "Tea? Tea, are you okay?"

"I'm fine." Tea snapped from the other side of the door. Praying Mokuba would go away, Tea slumped against the wall and rested her head against her knees. Lowering her voice to a whisper so soft she herself could barely hear, Tea repeated, "I'm fine. Just pregnant."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Opening his eyes, Seto tried to focus on the figure sitting next to him.

"Ah, you're up." The figure sighed. Seto knew the voice should be familiar, but his vision was still blurry and his mind was still groggy.

"Where am I?" Seto asked as he blinked a couple times.

"A hospital. You wouldn't believe the security on your room!" the figure muttered as he stood up and poured Seto a glass of water. Handing the cup to Seto, the figure remained stand, but walked to the other side of the room, while he continued to speak. After drinking the water, Seto's vision finally cleared and Seto recognized the figure as Ryou. "I actually had to use the pass you once gave me. You know, the one that allows me access to anything you have access to? Well anyway, I'm kinda pissed that my boyfriend had to go back to my place, since he didn't have a pass."

"Ryou?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you here?"

"Oh, interesting story behind that. You see, While I was in Italy, I found this British television station and I heard that your parents were killed in a plane crash. So I called your house to see if you were all right, but all I got was a recording telling me the call couldn't be connected. So I tried a few more times, in case I was getting the number wrong but I kept getting the same message. What did you do anyway?"

"I unplugged the three phones."

"Great, just great. So, after getting the same message three times, I decided to fly home."

"But you were coming home early. How did you get your ticket changed on such short notice?" 

"My boyfriend had a friend in the shipping company. Turns out the friend owed my boyfriend a favor. But that's all beside the point! When I got back to the states, I went to your apartment and it was empty. So was Kaiba Corp. I even went to your parent's place. Then I see in the local newspaper that the _President_ of Kaiba Corp had fallen ill and had been taken to the hospital! What exactly happened? You've been out since yesterday afternoon, I've been told."

"They're dead, Ryou." Seto whispered, lying back down. He closed his eyes and took a couple deep breaths as if trying to calm down or not cry.

"Your parents?"

"Tea and Mokuba."

"What happened?" Ryou asked, leaning forward.

"There was an attempted takeover by the Big Five. It's to be kept quite, but it happened. They wanted Mokuba to be the president so they could manipulate him. I sent Tea and Mokuba out of town but Pegasus had them followed and because I wouldn't give up, Pegasus had them both shot."

"My God. Are you sure? Can't you check and see if they're just hiding where ever they were going?"

"No. I have no idea where they were headed, it was supposed to be a secret even from me. Besides, Pegasus told me around a group of cops while he was under arrest. It would have been stupid for him to bluff."

"So…...... they're really dead?"

"Yes."

"Are you going to be all right?"

"I'm not sure." Seto admitted, his voice suddenly getting bitter and angry. "I just want to crush some one's head. I want some one to pay. I want every single on of those bastards to die and burn in hell! And _I_ want to be the one to put them there…...... _forever_!"

"Seto, I'm not going to lie and say I completely understand." Ryou sighed. "But I'm going to try to understand, and if nothing else I'm going to help."

"Thanks, Ryou." Seto nodded, his lips set in a thin line.

"Hey, no problem. Now, come on. Let's see if we can get you out of this hospital and back home."

"No, not home. I want to go to the office."

"Why?"

"I want blood, Ryou. I want blood, and I want it _NOW_."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Walking past the gym on the fourth floor, Seto looking in and frowned. It had been his dad's idea. For the work-aholics, he had explained. Setting down his coffee, Seto walked inside and went over to the punching bag. Swinging his leg around, he slammed his foot into the bag sending it flying.

"That's for trying to take over my company!" Seto hissed as he imagined Pegasus and the rest of the Big Five standing in front of him, instead of the bag. Punching it twice, Seto quickly jumped and kicked the bag again. "And that was for killing my brother! And for killing Tea! And for hurting me! And for ripping away my family! And for making my life a living hell! And for causing me pain!"

Kicking the bag once more, Seto watched as the bag finally burst, sending sand flying.

"I hate you all!" Seto declared as he looked down at the blood that was running down his fingers from the small cuts his fingernails had made in his palms. "I hate you more than anything else on earth."

AN: nu fa ch'ung kuan: so angry that the hair stands up under the cap (Extreme anger)


	11. XI

Chapter 11: Things are not always as they seem

"Yes?"

"Sir, there's a message from the bank."

"What is it? And, please, don't call me sir."

"Sorry. The bank says there's been a wire transfer of fifty thousand dollars from Mr. Kaiba's account in New York to a bank in Pittsburgh."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. The transfer should be complete in a few hours."

"I though that crap was instantaneous."

"It is, but there's a waiting period. Just to make sure it's not a hacker or something."

"Right. Uh, could you give me the address of this bank?"

"Right away."

"By the way, why didn't you inform Seto?"

"He demanded that he shouldn't be disturbed. Besides he's at the jail."

"So he passes all the responsibility onto me. What a friend." Ryou groaned as he hurried down to the secretary's desk.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I heard you wanted to speak with me."

"Yes." Roba sighed, as he unconsciously rubbed his arm.

"Well?"

"What if I were to tell you everything I knew about what happened? What if I wasn't to hold back on a single detail that I knew?"

"You'd want something. What do you want?"

"Best case scenario: I'm acquitted of all charges and allowed to go with a reference and my name cleared. Worst case scenario: I go to a separate jail from the other Big Five. Anything in-between those two options is good."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Ryou?" Marik asked as Ryou ran past him. "Where are you going?"

"Marik? What are you doing here?"

"I came to see you. What's going on? Where's the fire?"

"I'm taking a trip to Pittsburgh to check on a money transfer. Want to come?"

"Sure. Nothing ever happens on Tuesday anyway."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, do you think we'll catch the person behind the money transfer?" Marik asked as he and Ryou left the train station.

"We might. There's a three hour waiting period and our trip was just a bit over that."

"Couldn't you just cancel the transfer?"

"I could, but I'm interested to see who would not only be able to hack into Seto's bank account, but also only take a small fraction of the account instead of a larger part."

"Someone who wets their pants in fear at the mer mention of your friend?"

"If they were that scared, they wouldn't have hacked into the account in the first place."

"Humph. If you say so." Marik sniffed. "Look, there's the bank."

"Right, now…......" Ryou began before suddenly stopping. "Oh my God."

"What is it?" Marik asked. Not answering Ryou started running and Marik ran after him.

"TEA!" Ryou screamed. Turning around in fright, Tea jumped when she saw Ryou.

"Ryou? What are you doing here?" Tea asked, once Ryou had caught up with her.

"I came to find out about a wire transfer from Seto's account."

"Oh?" Tea whispered, before grabbing Ryou's hand and leading him down a near-by alleyway. Turning to face him, Tea blushed lightly and looked at her feet. "Um, that would be me."

"You were the hacker who transferred the money? But why? And why are you here?"

"Well, not me exactly. Mokuba. But you seem surprised."

"I should say so! Hell, girl! You're supposed to be dead!"

"And she will be." Marik laughed.

"Huh?"

"Ryou, who is that?"

"Oh, that's Marik. We're dating."

"Do you usually date men with a laugh like a homicidal maniac?" Tea whispered

"Well, it's the first time I've actually heard him laugh like that." Ryou admitted.

"Shut up!" Marik screamed, his demeanor suddenly changing. Reaching behind his jacket, Marik pulled out a gold-plated gun with the eye of Ra engraved on both sides. Pointing it at Tea and Ryou, Marik giggled softly.

"Oh my God!" Tea moaned, unconsciously moving her hand to cover her lower stomach.

"Marik!" Ryou cried, both surprised and shocked. "What the hell is going on, Marik? What do you think you're doing?"

"Ryou, what does it look like?" Marik asked, a sadistic smile on his face. "I'm going to kill you both."

"But why?" Ryou whispered, taking a step forward.

"Because he's a psychotic, homicidal, evil bastard!" Tea screamed.

"Psychotic, homicidal bastards don't watch the Disney channel and eat Chinese with me!" Ryou screamed back, before looking at Marik. "Marik, what's wrong?"

"Don't come near me!" Marik ordered.

"Marik." Ryou pleaded. "Don't do this."

"_Don't do this? Don't do this? But it's all your fault! It was the perfect plan and it would have worked too! But you had to be perfect! It's all your fault! I wasn't supposed to fall in love with you! I wasn't!_" Marik screamed, tears streaming down his face. "And so you have to die. Both of you."

"Marik, give me the gun." Ryou sighed as he held out his hands. "Just give me the gun and we can talk about this."

"It's all your fault." Marik sobbed as he fell into Ryou's out stretched arms, the gun falling from his fingers and hitting the ground with a clatter. "Why did I have to love you? Why did you have to be you?"

"Tea? Why don't you go back to New York? Seto's waiting for you." Ryou whispered, looking down at Marik, who was pressing his face into Ryou's shoulder.

"Seto?" Tea asked, still watching Marik cautiously. "Is Seto alive?"

"Yea, Tea. He misses you, so why don't you go home?" Ryou asked as he sank to the ground with Marik in his arms. "Just go home."

Nodding, Tea fled the alleyway, leaving Marik and Ryou alone.

"Marik?"

"I'm sorry." Marik whispered. "I'm sorry."

"I know. It's all right. Just tell me about it. Tell me everything."

"I was raised in Los Angeles, California." Marik began as he lay down so that his head was in Ryou's lap. Ignoring the fact that they were both sitting in a very dark alley, Ryou leaned back against a wall and began to stroke Marik's hair as he listened to Marik's words. 

"My father was very rich and my family had everything. Except him. He was a workaholic. He would come home very late and leave very early, if he came home at all. His work consumed his life and it was a treat to see his face. My sister and I went to upper class, private schools and vacationed in one of our two summer homes, one in Spain and one was in Egypt. We didn't have many friends, though my sister had more than I did. Anyway, my father was one of the Big Five of Kaiba Corp until I was fourteen, thirteen years ago. He was forced out in a brutal set up. And, all though my father could have easily lived off everything he had made over the years, he was completely crushed by the lose of his position. He committed suicide less than three days later. My sister and mother got over our lose rather well, but my father had always been my idol, my hero. I swore revenge against whoever had bought out my father. When I was fifteen, a source told me that the set up that had lead to my fathers death had been organized by the owner of Kaiba Corp, who was also a very close friend of my father."

"But why now? Seto's father is all ready dead."

"My mother recently died leaving the family fortune to be divided between my sister and I. This meant that I finally had an unchecked, unending source of capital. But by the time my original plan was worked out and ready to begin, your friend's father had already died. So I set my sights on the elder Kaiba's son. What did you call him? Seto? Well anyway, murder had never been my aim. I was simply going to take over the company through the Big Five and the younger Kaiba brother. I would immediately make hundreds of poor business decisions making Kaiba Corps a finical ruin. This would have, not only, killed the Kaiba brothers financially, but also the Big Five, four of whom were involved in the take over that pushed my father out."

"But then your take over failed."

"I imagined it might. Pegasus, the man who took my fathers place, is cunning and a back-stabber."

"You knew he would double-cross you?"

"I had thought of the possibility, yes. I knew he would never gain the support of anyone of than the Big Five, though. I counted on Kaiba Corps immediate break up and disintegration if Pegasus deceived me. But then, everything went wrong.

"I fell in love with you. That was never supposed to happen. I was supposed to watch you and make sure Seto did not ask you for help, but then I _saw_ you. I had to speak to you, and then…...... well, you know. I'm getting off track, yes. The Big Five lost in the take over and Seto came out on top. I've never been a very good loser, Ryou. I couldn't take it. So, just now, when I found out Tea was alive, I decided that if I couldn't hurt him, I'd kill the only people he loved."

Ryou nodded and the two of them sat in silence, Marik wiping the tears from his eyes and face and Ryou stroking Marik's hair.

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Aren't you going to leave?"

"Why should I?"

"Ryou!"

"Marik!" Ryou teased, kissing Marik on the forehead. "Really though. Why should I leave?"

"I was going to kill you. I was going to hurt your friend. I lied to you! I hurt you! I'm a terrible person, Ryou! You deserve better."

"Marik, shut up; listen to me. I've dated a lot of people, men and women, and all of those relationships have gone badly or ended badly. I've never been happy in love. I put up with a lot and never got much in return, but you were…...... are so much different. You never tried to pressure me. You never held out on me if I asked you a question. You never hit me. You never tried to change me."

"You were hit?" Marik asked.

"Sometimes." Ryou shrugged. "But that doesn't matter. Marik, you told me you never wanted to kill anyone. You were just angry and upset. Besides, with everything I've ever put up with, what's a little thing like a hostile take over?"

"So, I'm really forgiven?"

"Only if you promise never to do it again." Ryou smiled. "Now come on. Let's get off the ground and out of this alley."

"You want to go home?"

"No, let's get a hotel room for a few nights; just until all this all blows over. I think New York is going to be a bit too precarious and dangerous for you at the moment."


	12. XII

AN: Okay, this is probably the last chapter. There will be an epilogue though.

Chapter 12: chüan ch'üan fu ying

Slowly opening his eyes, Seto blinked a few times and tried to figure out why it was so dark. The fact that he was wearing a jacket and had his face pressed against a book didn't bother him in the slightest. People who work so late they fall asleep on their papers are used to waking up like this, but they are usually rather surprised when the light has been turned off.

Sitting up, Seto rubbed his face and stretched. He felt absolutely disgusting, but sleeping at your desk did that to you, as a rule. The bonus, though, was that you could wake up early enough so that no one sees you looking like you just got up. Which you did. Tripping over his briefcase and another chair, Seto pulled back the blinds and winced at the sunlight streaming in the large glass window of his office.

"Ryou must have turned off the lights." Seto decided. "I wonder what time it is."

"Just after eight." A familiar voice informed Seto.

"Thank you, Mokuba. Mokuba?!"

"'Morning Seto." Mokuba smiled from the doorway.

"Morning, Seto." Tea repeated as she came up behind Mokuba with a cup of coffee.

"Tea? You're both here?"

"Yea. Sorry it took us so long." Tea shrugged and Seto took a step forward. "Don't look so surprised."

"What's wrong Seto?"

"Is this a…...... a trick?" Seto whispered. "If I…...... touch you, will you…...... disappear?"

"I shouldn't think so." Tea smiled.

"Oh my God." Seto whispered. "Oh my God!"

Running forward, Seto stopped inches from Mokuba and Tea. Bending down to look Mokuba in the eye, Seto reached a hand out and brushed Mokuba's bangs to the side.

"You're alive." Seto whispered, almost in disbelief. "You're really here."

"Oh, Seto!" Mokuba screamed as he threw himself at Seto, tears rolling down his face. "I missed you so much!"

"I missed you too." Seto whispered as he returned Mokuba's hug. "I missed both of you so much it hurt."

Smiling, Mokuba tried to stifle a yawn.

"Are you tired?" Tea asked. "I'm sorry."

"You can sleep on the couch, if you want." Seto offered and Mokuba nodded, his eyelids feeling heavier by the second. Stumbling over to the couch at the other side of the room, Mokuba lay down and was immediately asleep.

"Seto?" Tea asked. Turning his face from Mokuba's sleeping form, Seto turned to look at Tea. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Seto nodded. "You still haven't hugged me yet."

"You seemed a bit busy." Tea whispered but Seto's arms had already engulfed her in a huge hug.

"Tea, did I ever tell you that I loved you?"

"I…...... I don't remember." Tea admitted, her head buried in Seto's shoulder.

"Then let me tell you. I love you, Tea. I love you. I love you so much."

"I love you too."

"Tea?"

"Hmmm?"

"Marry me?"

"What?" Tea gasped, her eyes shooting open.

"Oh." Seto whispered, pulling away. He felt as if his rapidly mending heart had been ripped from his chest and shreded before his eyes. He was having trouble breathing because his throat was feeling tighter and tighter every second and his eyes were beginning to water; it was all he could do to keep from crying right in front of Tea. "Never mind. If that's how you feel…......"

"YES!" Tea cried, as she pulled Seto closer and kissed him on the lips. "Yes, yes, yes! Of course I'll marry you! How could you ever think I wouldn't ? I love you Seto."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Seto?" Mokuba called.

"Yea?" Seto replied, walking into Mokuba's room.

"Can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure, little brother."

"Do you love me?"

"Of course, I do, Mokuba."

"More than Tea?" Mokuba asked.

"What? Mokuba, no."

"So you love her more than me?"

"No, Mokuba. I love both of you the same amount, just differently. Is this about the wedding?"

"Well, sort of."

"Mokuba, no matter what, I will always be your brother."

"I know that!" Mokuba groaned. "I know that! But whenever Tea is around…...... I just feel…......"

"Left out? Oh, Mokuba, I'm sorry."

"No, don't bother. I'm just being selfish."

"No, Mokuba. You're right. I haven't been able to spend much time with you lately." Seto admitted before pausing for a minute. "Do you want to go for a trip?"

"With Tea?"

"No. Just us. Maybe over the summer, after the wedding and when things have settled down. Just you and me. We'll go where ever you want."

"Promise?"

"Promise." Seto smiled, before ruffling Mokuba's hair and turning the light out. Walking back into the living room, Seto noticed Tea was sitting on the couch, deep in thought.

"Hey."

"Hey. What are you doing up so late?"

"You're up too. What did Mokuba want?"

"Oh, nothing important. Just a big brother – little brother talk."

"Oh. I see. Seto?"

"Yes?"

"Why are you marrying me?"

"That's a stupid question. Because I love you, of course. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason." Tea shrugged. Sitting down next to her, Seto wrapped his arms around her waist and Tea pulled herself onto Seto's lap. "Seto, I'm pregnant."

There was a moment of silence. Frowning, Tea pressed her head against Seto's shoulder before looking back at Seto's face. It was a mixture of surprise, shock and worry.

"It's yours."

  
"Of course it's mine! Who's else would it be?" Seto asked.

"You weren't worried that I was cheating on you with someone else?"

"No. I was just worried that you wouldn't keep it."

"Of course I'll keep it! Why would you think I wouldn't?"

"I know the baby will destroy any chance of you becoming a dancer."

"Oh, Seto." Tea sighed, rolling her eyes.

"So what are you going to do?"

"I dunno. Maybe I'll get a teaching license and teach dance. Or maybe I can go to business school and get a job as a secretary. I'm still young, so I'm not suck for options."

There was another lapse of silence before Seto let out a sigh.

"I'm glad you aren't upset at me."

"Why would I be?" 

"Well it is my fault."

"Only half your fault." Tea reminded him. "Besides, I want this baby."

"So do I. Uh, when did you find out?"

"When I was in Springfield."

"Springfield? You went to Illinois?"

"It was the first place that came into mind."

"You're so strange, Tea."

"Humph."

"But that's how I love you. You know, I never realized how much I loved you until Pegasus told me you were dead. I never knew."

"I know. I didn't know either."

AN: chüan ch'üan fu ying- to clasp firmly to the breast (to cherish something deeply)


	13. XIII

AN: Yes. This is officially the final chapter of 'What You Have'. Enjoy!

Epilogue

"Yes; thank you for coming today. I realize you are a very busy woman." Seto smiled at the representative. Extending his hand, Seto nodded to the lady and showed her to the door. Closing the door behind her, Seto walked back to his desk and whacked his head down. "Ow. God, I hate my job."

"Sir?"

"Yes, Serenity?" Seto asked without lifting his head from its place—imbedded in his desk.

"First, a glass of water and two aspirin." Serenity sighed and Seto heard a soft thunk, which he attributed to a glass of water and two pills. "Uh, sir, could you please sit up when you talk to me? It's rather disturbing to talk to you and for you to reply to the desk."

"Very well." Seto sighed as he raised his head just enough so he could look Serenity in the eye. "What was the other thing?"

"You've got a phone call."

"Damn. Uh, just scare them away, will you? I don't want to think for another hour or so."

"Uh, I've tried sir. He's most insistent."

"How insistent?"

"When I told him you weren't in, he started to scream at me in another language. Then he said he'd wait. I really think this is important, sir. Occasionally I heard he scream at another person. I never heard of so many ways to kill someone."

"Oh, very well. Put him on." Seto groaned. Nodding, Serenity walked to her desk just outside Seto's office and pressed the link button. Lifting the earpiece, Seto rolled his eyes. "Hello, Seto Kaiba speaking."

"SETO! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

"Ryou? Ryou is that you? What's wrong?"

"WHAT'S WRONG? WHAT'S WRONG?! YOU BAKA! YOUR OWN WIFE GOES INTO LABOR AND ALL YOU CAN ASK IS 'WHAT'S'—FUCKING—'WRONG'?"

"NANI? TEA?" Seto gasped. "Oh my God!"

"No shit! And here I am calling from a cell phone I stole off a nurse! Do you realize I've been waiting a half hour just to speak with you?"

"Is Tea alright?" Seto asked as he grabbed his trench coat.

"I don't know. Why don't you ask her?" Ryou suggested, just before a scream of pain was heard from Ryou's end. "By the way, that was her."

"Shit! I'm on my way. What hospital are you at?"

"North Side. (AN: I have no idea about what hospitals are named in NYC, so I made North Side up) Room 2032."

Dropping the phone, Seto raced past Serenity.

"Mr. Kaiba?"

"Cancel all my appointments! I've got to go!" Seto shouted over his shoulder as he headed for the stairs. "And hang up my phone!"

Racing down the stairs, Seto prayed that Tea would be all right. But he wasn't too worried; Tea was a very strong woman.

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"Are you sure about this?" Seto asked as he turned took the key out of the rental car's ignition and turned to face Tea.

"Of course I'm sure. Besides, it's about time you meet my parents."

"Okay." Seto nodded, getting out of the car. Opening Tea's door, Seto extended his hand to help her out, but Tea ignored it and frowned at him.

"I'm pregnant, not terminally ill." She scowled.

"Tea?" A woman called from the porch of the house Seto and Tea stood in front of.

"MOM!" Tea called.

"Oh, Tea! Why didn't you call? We would have come to get you." Tea's mom smiled as she ran towards her daughter. Pulling two twenties out of her pocket, Tea's mom pressed them into Seto's hand. "There you go. Thank you for driving my daughter here. Are her bags in your trunk?"

"Excuse me?" Seto asked, staring at the forty dollars.

"Isn't that enough? Well, I must say! More than forty dollars for a taxi ride? What is wrong with this picture?"

"Martha? Who is it?" A man called. "Tea? What are you doing here? Why didn't you call ahead?"

"John, please explain to this taxi driver that over forty dollars for a fare is outrageous!"

"Uh, mom?" Tea whispered, tugging on her mom's sleeve.

"Not now, Tea. Let me deal with this driver first."

Rolling his eyes, Seto took Ms. Gardner's hand and returned the forty dollars.

"It's an honor to meet you, Ms. Gardner. Tea has told me so much about you. I am very pleased that you will be my new mother-in-law, should you give your daughter and I your blessing."

"Mother-in-law?" Ms. Gardner repeated, the blood draining from her face.

"I tried to tell you, mom. This is Seto. We're going to be married in a month."

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"I do." Seto smiled.

"You may now kiss the bride." The priest smiled and Seto lowered his mouth to Tea's. A loud cheer rose from the audience and nearly muffled Mokuba's immature gagging sounds. Kicking his brother lightly, Seto pulled away and lead Tea down the aisle.

"I love you." Tea smiled as she squeezed Seto's hand. Smiling, Seto rubbed the area that was now occupied by a gold wedding band. Grinning back, Tea touched Seto's wedding band with her fingers.

"I love you too." Seto smiled before kissing her again.

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"I am informed that, since I'm best man, I am supposed to give some sort of a speech." Ryou frowned, tipping over slightly and using to table to support himself. "So here goes."

"Oh dear lord." Marik groaned from his spot next to Ryou.

(It was amazing that Marik had been invited, Seto reflected. It was even more amazing that he had come. It was no secret that, while Seto and Tea did not trust Marik an inch, they tolerated him because Ryou loved Marik. It was also no secret that even though Marik had given up on his revenge against the Kaiba's, the awkward situations that occurred whenever Seto or Tea was alone with Marik caused Marik to avoid all of Ryou's friends like the plague!)

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"First of all, I would like to say that Seto and I have been great friends since we first meet."

"That's a lie." Seto muttered but Tea softly kicked him.

"And I know," Ryou continued, "That Seto is a great guy. A bit of a stick in the mud, but a great guy. I remember when Seto and Tea meet."

"He's not going to tell everyone, is he?" Tea whispered.

"He's pretty drunk, there's no telling what he'll say."

"It was at a night club. They didn't know a single thing about each other. Hell, Seto even lied about his name!"

"I'll kill him." Seto promised Tea.

"But still, their love prevailed and here they are. Married. I'm not going to say happily, because no married man is happy." Ryou shrugged before Marik took Ryou's wineglass and forced his boyfriend to sit down.

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"You're sure you'll be all right?" Seto asked as he pulled on his coat.

"Yes. I'll be fine."

"Do you have the number of the doctor?"

"Yes."

"And the money?"

"Yes."

"And the asprin?"

"Yes."

"And Mai will be staying with you?"

"Yes."

"And…......"

"SETO! I'm only four months, not nine! I'll be all right!"

"Come on, Seto! We'll miss our flight!"

"Okay, okay. Are you sure?"

"YES! Have fun!"

"I love you."

"Love you, too."

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"Huh? Tea, what's wrong?"

"I want some ice cream."

"Tea, It's three in the morning."

"But I need some!"

"So go get it. The freezer isn't locked."

"But I want vanilla."

"Not now. Please, God; not now!"

"SE~TO~!"

"Can't it wait? I have a important meeting in three hours, please just let me sleep." Seto mumbled.

"Seto Kaiba! You got me like this so you can sure as hell get me some ice cream." Tea growled as she pulled Seto's pillow out from under his head and began to beat him with it.

"Okay! Okay! You win!" Seto cried, as he rolled out of be and attempted to pull on some decent clothes.

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"Excuse me, sir." Serenity whispered into Seto's ear. "You're wife is on the phone."

"All right." Seto nodded, picking up the phone. "Put her on."

"SETO!" Tea's voice ripped through the phone line within a matter of seconds. "I HATE YOU! YOU BASTARD! I'M NEVER SLEEPING WITH YOU EVER AGAIN!"

"Tea?"

"IF I SEE ANOTHER MALE, INCLUDING YOU, WITHIN THE NEXT TWENTY-FOUR HOURS, I'LL RIP OUT THEIR THROAT! I HATE~E YOU~U!" Tea screamed before taking the receiver and slamming in against a hard surface. Blinking at the phone for a second, Seto realized that the dial tone signaled that Tea had hung up on him.

"Sir?" Serenity asked, from the other side of the door. "Is everything all right?"

"Fine. Tea's just a little on edge due to the pregnancy." Seto shrugged. "Uh, Serenity? Call my brother and tell him we're locked out again."

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"Just looks like a bunch of black lines to me." Seto confessed as the doctor began to run a scan on Tea's womb.

"Shush. That's your kid, you idiot. Have a bit of respect."

"Well, it seems healthy." The doctor said after a minutes. "Except…......"

"Except? Except what?" Seto asked, beginning to panic.

"There seems to be another child."

"What?"

"You've got twins." The doctor smiled. "Twin boys."

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'We never did decide on a set of names.' Seto frowned as he pushed past other people on his run towards the hospital. 'I hope Tea has some ideas.'

Running into the hospital, Seto bypassed the nurse's station and began searching for room 2032. The room however was rather obvious since Joey, Mai, Yugi, Ryou, Marik and Mokuba were standing outside the door.

"Seto!" Mokuba called as Seto ran up.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have school?"

"Ryou came to get me." Mokuba shrugged and Seto sent Ryou a death glare.

"Was anyone with here when it started?" Seto asked the group.

"I had just come over with Joey." Mai shrugged.

"And Marik had just come by. We were going to see a play together." Ryou added. "Well, I'm about to leave and suddenly I hear a scream and Tea's yelling for us. We get up to the bed room and there she is sitting on the ground, clutching her stomach."

"She went into labor in the bedroom?"

"Yes." Yugi nodded—he'd heard the whole explanation when Ryou had phoned to tell him what was happening. "Why was she even at home?"

"Began our twins weren't due for another week or so! Besides, I made sure someone was with her if I wasn't." Seto defended himself. Suddenly a nurse stuck her head out of the room and looked around.

"If the father here yet?"

"That'd be me." Seto replied.

"Your…...... the mother of your children wants to see you."

"Is she all right?"

"Yes. And you have two healthy boys." The nurse smiled and Seto pushed past her. Tea was sitting up in bed holding two bundles of cloth. She looked extremely happy even though her shirt was hanging off one of her shoulders and her hair was plastered to her forehead.

"Hey." Seto whispered. "Sorry I came too late."

"It's okay. I might have killed you if you had been around."

"Is…...... it all finished?"

"Yes." Tea laughed. "I'm just a bit tired. Come closer. Don't you want to see your kids?"

Walking over, Seto looked down at the bundles and smiled at the two red faces.

"They look just like you." Tea told him.

"No. They have your face."

"But they have our hair and eyes."

"They're beautiful."

"Hansom." Tea grinned. "Beautiful is for girls."

"Uh, Tea? Did you name them?" Seto asked, his face flushed. Tea let out a little giggle and then a full laugh, causing the one in her right arm to wake up and start crying. Handing the one in her left arm to Seto, Tea began to rock the crying child.

"Yes. I did name them. This one," Tea indicated the one she was holding. "Is names Ryu Aaron Kaiba and the one in your arms is named Seto Christopher Kaiba."

"Ryu and Seto." Seto whispered. "I love you Tea."

"I know." Tea smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~THE END~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AN: God, I hate that ending. It's such sap; I apologize. I need to work on my endings, I really do. 


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